More than 40 cm in the forecast over two days for many areas of Newfoundland

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro says it's preparing for the next storm to hit the province today into Wednesday and is asking customers to prepare and keep safety top of mind.

Hydro said in a news release this morning it's ensuring a state of readiness by activating its emergency preparedness protocols. The Energy Control Centre is monitoring the storm and the system closely and all stand-by generation has been tested. Hydro's Customer Call Centre is also available to answer customer calls and questions.

Customers are urged to stay safe and prepare for possible outages. Safety information can be found at Hydrosafety.ca and GetPrepared.gc.ca.

· Don't use camp stoves or barbecues indoors as they produce hazardous fumes;

· Turn thermostats to the lowest setting or switch them off; and keep only one light on to let you know when power has been restored;

· Do not plug a portable generator into the wiring system of a home or building. This action could result in serious injury to utility workers;

· Listen to the radio;

· Stay warm with blankets and wearing layers;

· Spend some quiet, quality time with friends and family while crews work to safely restore power;

Customers can get updates on the Hydro Power Outages and Emergencies (24 hrs) line at 1-888-737-1296 or on Hydro’s website at www.nlh.nl.ca.

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(Earlier story)

Another snow storm coming

Despite being more than a week into spring, another snow storm is headed for Newfoundland, with Environment Canada forecasting snowfall amounts over the next two days possibly reaching in excess of 40 centimetres for some areas of the island.

The weather office has issued winter storm warnings for St. John’s-metro, the Avalon Peninsula north, southeast and southwest, Burgeo-Ramea area, the Burin Peninsula, Connaigre, Bay St. George and Channel-Port aux Basques and vicinity.

Environment Canada says a low pressure system off Cape Cod this morning will move very slowly eastward and pass south of Newfoundland over the next couple of days. This system will bring an extended period of winter weather to most of Newfoundland, especially the southern half of the island.

Snow has begun over southern and southwestern Newfoundland and is already transitioning to freezing rain and ice pellets in some areas. The snow will continue spreading eastward across the southern half of the island this morning.

According to Environment Canada, there’s still some uncertainty as to how far north the precipitation will push across the island and where exactly the transition zone between snow and ice will be.

It says, “what is certain is that significant amounts of snow and ice are expected on either side of this transition zone over the next couple of days. Current indications are that snowfall amounts could reach in excess of 40 centimetres over inland areas of the south coast and parts of the east coast, including the northern Avalon Peninsula. Additionally, there is potential for several centimetres of ice pellets to accumulate along the south coast. The Burin and southern Avalon peninsulas could see a prolonged period of freezing rain tonight into Tuesday.”

East to northeasterly winds are forecast to gust to between 50 and 80 km/h giving blowing snow. The severity of the blowing snow will be lessened in areas that change to ice pellets or freezing rain.

In the Wreckhouse area of the province’s west coast, easterly winds are expected to gust up to 130 km/h today.

Special weather statements for other areas

Special weather statements have been issued for the Bonavista Peninsula, Buchans and the interior, Corner Brook and vicinity, Deer Lake-Humber Valley, Gander and vicinity, Grand Falls-Windsor and vicinity and Terra Nova, where significant snowfall is expected, but in lower accumulations, amounting to about 10 to 20 cm.

Environment Canada says it will continue to monitor this system and provide additional updates as more information becomes available. Given the uncertainty that still exists, it’s advising the public to check forecasts frequently for further updates, especially if planning travel for today or Tuesday.

In St. John’s-metro, periods of snow are expected to begin today near noon, with accumulations of two to four centimetres.

Tonight, snow is forecast to be heavy at times, becoming mixed with ice pellets after midnight.

Snow and ice pellet amounts for St. John’s-metro are expected to total 10 to 20 cm, with blowing snow before the changeover.

Tuesday, snowfall is expected continue, at times heavy with snow and blowing snow or ice pellets in the morning. Snow and ice pellet amounts are expected to total 10 to 20 cm Tuesday, with northeast winds around 40 km/h, gusting to 60 km.h.

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Maggy Carter

March 31, 2014 - 11:11

What we are witnessing now is the normalization of the abnormal. For the next few years, we can expect to hear from NL Hydro and NL Power every time a 'weather event' is forecast. In the aftermath of its dark days debacle, NALCOR has pulled out all the stops to restore public confidence. And being the pushovers they are, the media has happily gone along. They fail to see themselves as an unpaid, unofficial extension of the PR campaign being waged to acclimatize Newfoundlanders to the acceptance of mediocrity, if not ineptness, from its publicly owned, great money sucking, badly broken power generation and distribution system. We are treated to prime time media tours of the NALCOR's own situation room - a.k.a. the Energy Control Centre - to reassure us that they are struggling to deliver electrical reliability that we could once take for granted. Yes Virginia, there was a time when the weatherman forecast a dump of snow and the public didn't immediately become stricken with fear that the sky was about to fall, the lights were about to go out, and they would be left once more to shiver in the cold. About the same time Newfoundland entered into Confederation, some clever chemist was inventing a system of sanitizing soiled duds - known as Martinizing. But some stains never come out. This Muskrat stained dud is likely to defy all the Martinizing NALCOR's PR department can throw at it.